The Last One Standing
by Sandrine2
Summary: CHAPTER 25 IS UP! Worth the read, at least review it...
1. Chapter One

* A/N: Hey, I don't own any of these characters, J.K. Rowling created them, the plot is mine and that's it.  
  
Harry woke up to the sound of pounding on his door. Soon his Uncle's voice joined in, "GET UP YOU LAZY SLUG, WE'RE NOT GOING TO WAIT ANY LONGER, YOU INGRATEFUL BEAST!" Harry groaned and reached for his glasses that were resting on his nightstand. When his eyes finally focused he looked at the little clock on his desk, "7:00?" he muttered under his breath and got up just as Uncle Vernon fist shot through the door. CRACK! Harry jumped at the sound and realized that if he kept Uncle Vernon waiting any longer, he wouldn't just miss breakfast but he'd miss all his meals for the next few days. He stumbled to the door and jumped at the sight of a bulging, blood shot eye poking through the hole where his Uncle's fist had been. "GET DOWN THERE YOU ROTTING PILE OF RAT DROPPINGS!" Harry quickly apologized and added something incoherent under his breath. "WHAT?" Uncle Vernon screeched. "Uh-nothing, just clearing my throat" Harry said and scurried down the stairs.  
  
After taking his seat at the table, Harry gazed down at the slice of apple and two grapes, sitting on a plate. Aunt Petunia must be having a good day he thought to himself. Dudley glared at him, Harry noticed he'd already eaten his food and was practically foaming at the mouth while staring at Harry's plate. Harry smiled and popped a grape in his mouth. After seeing this gesture, Aunt Petunia gasped and quickly took Harry's plate away from him and handed it to Dudley, who smiled and dug into the meager breakfast. Harry tried to look upset, but he couldn't hide the smile playing at his mouth. "GIMME MY MAIL, YOU LOW BREATH LIZARD GRINNING SCUM!" Harry heard his Uncle scream. "Mail's here!" Dudley gurgled in delight; it was hard to understand what he said, for somehow his tongue itself had begun to get fatter. Aunt Petunia was at a loss for the constant increase in Dudley's weight. Dudley was excited because every week he got a different magazine, Many of them, car magazines, he insisted that he was only interested in the cars, when he and Harry both knew Dudley ordered them because of the girls sitting on the hot rods. Uncle Vernon stomped into the kitchen and threw two very thick envelopes at Harry. Both were from Hogwarts, Harry's school of witchcraft and wizardry, one held his schedule and supply list, the other was unexpected and Harry couldn't wait to see what was in it. He excused himself from the table. Uncle Vernon just scoffed to himself as he flipped through a stack of envelopes. Judging by his expression, they were bills.  
  
When he reached his room, Harry quickly ripped open the thicker envelope, and pulled out some parchment.  
  
"Dear Harry, I hope this message finds you well. I trust your Summer Holidays are going well. I'm sending you this in regards to your position on the Quidditch team. As you know, many people are vying for the open spot as team captain. I'm hoping you apply for this position, it is an experience you'd never forget I believe you would really benefit from it. I've enclosed the necessary information and requirements for you, and some information for Mr. and Mrs. Dursley.  
  
Best Regards, Professor Dumbledore"  
  
Harry smiled and tucked the letter safely back into its envelope. Quickly Harry sent a letter to his best friend Ron Weasley.  
  
"Dear Ron, Did you get you class list for the fall semester? Send a reply back with Hedwig!  
  
Harry"  
  
He tied the small piece of parchment to his snowy owl's leg. Then set to work writing a similar letter to his other best friend, Hermione Granger. He sat back in his chair and smiled. This is going to be a good year, He though to himself, I can already feel it!  
  
Harry was sitting anxiously at his desk waiting for a reply from Ron when he felt it. A cold creeping feeling slithered up his spine, and Harry felt as though he was trembling as the feeling spread throughout his entire body, ending with his scar which suddenly felt as though it was on fire. Harry clutched his forehead and fell to the floor. He had experienced pain in his scar, but none this excruciating. It took everything he had to keep from screaming. And just like that, it was gone. He felt weak, and realized he was crying. He took off his glasses and wiped his eyes. He shakily stood up, and looked at his reflection in a mirror hanging above his desk, he examined the pale faced boy looking back at him, his green eyes, now blood shot, were magnified by his thick glasses, and the area around his scar was red. Harry couldn't ignore the fear nagging at the back of his mind. What was that? He thought to himself. He had felt a similar feeling last year when he was preparing for his 4th year, and he ended up battling with the evil Lord Voldemort. It couldn't be him, could it? Harry felt sick, and he ran to the bathroom, when he finally returned to his room, He saw Hedwig sitting on her perch in the cage, and Harry saw the little note tied to her leg.  
  
"Dear Harry, It's so good to hear from you. My Mother is insisting that you come stay with us for the final two weeks of the summer, I'm so excited for this coming year, 5th year will be exciting, although I'm not sure anything could top last year. Just think of all the opportunities we'll have to mess around with Malfoy! I got my schedule as well, but I think they made some mistakes. They have me taking 4 advanced placement classes, I wrote to Dumbledore telling him that I shouldn't even be considered for AP classes, but you know how the secretaries are. I'm looking forward to this next year in Gryffindor; it should be a blast!  
  
Ron Weasly"  
  
Harry smiled as he put the letter down, I feel a lot better now! He thought to himself, as he rifled through some parchment on his messy desk, looking for his letter to Hermione,  
  
He finally gave up and set to work writing another one. He'd show the letter from Ron to his Aunt and Uncle later.  
  
After finishing the letter, he sent it out with Hedwig and then grabbed Ron's letter and took it downstairs. "YOU WHAT?!?" Uncle Vernon screeched. He did whatever it took to make Harry miserable, he never said yes to him unless something good came to the Dudley family. "Look," Harry started to reason with him, "I don't want to hassle you in taking me and all my junk to the train station, and I would be gone two weeks earlier than you thought." Uncle Vernon turned purple, then red, then purple again, as though he were fighting with himself. "You can return to normal two weeks early," Harry added. "Alriiiiiight, tell thissss booooooy you'll seeee him mondaaaaay.!" Uncle Vernon forced the words out of his throat. He knew better then to mess with the Weaslys, after the year before, they visited his home and Dudley's tongue began to swell after eating some bewitched candy. Trying to act calm Harry stood, and politely thanked his Uncle, before heading upstairs again.  
  
"Ron, Guess what? I can stay with you! Send me some of your floo powder so I can get there, as my Aunt and Uncle are still terrified of your family. Ha ha, I'll never forget the last time you came! I'm scared that they'll change their minds if you come.  
  
Harry" 


	2. Chapter Two

A/N I don't own any of these characters, except Jacqueline, the rest were invented by J.K. Rowling h  
  
Harry packed up his things and made sure he had everything before carrying his trunk downstairs into the sitting room. He reached into his pocket and felt the pouch of fine powder; he smiled to himself, knowing that the Weasley's were already awaiting his arrival.  
  
He groaned as he dragged the heavy trunk into the small room. Slowly he walked over to the fire before he heard his uncle clear his throat. "Harry dear," Aunt Petunia said sweetly, causing him to turn around. He saw a thin looking woman sitting across from his Aunt and Uncle. "H-hello...?" Harry said nervously, realizing just how close he became to screwing everything over. "Where are you going Harry?" the woman said kindly. "Uh- well- I'm supposed to leave for school today" he told her. The woman stood up and smiled, she smoothed her brown skirt, which was awfully short, and she tugged her jacket down a little bit, before tucking her short blond hair back behind her ears. "And where is that?" She asked him. Harry gulped and glanced from his aunt to his uncle and then back to the woman. "Well.it's.uh.y'know, I'm not too sure of the name of the city, but it's a good distance away" he chuckled nervously. "Oh I'm sorry!" the woman said. "I should have introduced myself! My name is Jacqueline, and I'm your social worker, I'm just going to ask you a few questions and hopefully you'll answer them truthfully. Now, Mr. And Mrs. Dursley if you'd give us a minute. Then I'll let you get on your way." Uncle Vernon eyed her suspiciously before Aunt Petunia pulled him out of the room.  
  
"Now Harry, how are you doing?" Jacqueline asked him.  
  
"Not too bad." Harry said wishing he could tell her the whole story.  
  
"Not too bad?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Well, I'm a 15 year old guy, obviously things seem pretty screwed up right now. But life here is okay.I'm only here during the summers, and the Dursley's give me everything I need. Food, clothing, and shelter, you know." He said, trying to sound relaxed.  
  
"Uh.. Huh.are you happy Harry?  
  
"Like I said, it's hard being a teen but what-"  
  
"The Dursleys, Harry.are you happy with the Dursleys?" Jacqueline cut him off  
  
"Yes" Harry forced the word out of his throat. He knew what would happen if his aunt and uncle heard him say no. Besides, they really did give him everything he needed.  
  
"You don't sound so sure Harry." Jacqueline said, she sounded very concerned  
  
"Look," Harry countered, "I am late for an appointment.I don't want to seem rude, but I need to get going.I told my friend I'd meet him soon. I'm sure you understand."  
  
"I'm sorry Harry, we'll talk some more another time, I didn't realize you'd be leaving for school so soon." She said, sounding sincere. Immediately Harry felt bad about what he'd said. He apologized again and she stood up to leave, he watched her go out the door and then pull away from the curb. Still feeling bad he tossed some of the powder into the fire and quickly yelled to his Aunt and Uncle that he was leaving. He shoved his trunk into the green flames and then he grabbed Hedwig's cage before jumping in himself. Unbeknownst to him, Jacqueline had quickly come back and was running into the house to stop Harry from throwing himself into the fire.  
  
She screamed as Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon came running into the small sitting room before fainting to the floor. 


	3. Chapter Three

A/N I don't own any of these characters, I only own "Relius Locto" everything else was invented by J.K. Rowling  
  
Totally oblivious to everything that had happened in the past ten seconds, Harry was entering the Weasley living room. "So it worked all right, eh Harry?" Mr. Weasley asked him, as Harry set down Hedwig's cage and took in the Weasley home. "What? Uh, yeah, sorry I'm late!" Harry took a seat on the striped couch in the sitting room; he looked around for his trunk. "Where's my stuff" he asked. Just then he heard someone scampering down the stairs. "Harry!" He saw the bright red hair before he saw his best friend's face. "Ron!" he yelled back. "I see your voice finally changed!" He laughed, and Ron's face grew almost as red as his hair. "Shut up, you! I brought your trunk up stairs! I gotta show you somethi-" "Harry!" A pleasant voice came from behind him. "Have you eaten yet?"  
  
It was Mrs. Weasley. Before he could say anything he was seated next to Ron at the family dinner table, eating all sorts of rich foods. "This is Delicious!" Harry grinned through mouthfuls of the casserole he was eating. "What's in it?" he asked. Next to him, Ron grunted, and was immediately shushed by his mother. "Well.it's Bjorduessle," she said nervously. "It's a kind of Skrewt that comes from Norway." Harry almost gagged! Skrewt! He felt a little sick. He knew how Skrewt could be. "Look," Mrs. Weasley said, "You don't have to finish it." "No, It's good!" Harry said while his stomach began to churn. "I'm sure you boys have a lot to catch up on.so don't worry about it, feel free to take dessert up into Ron's room while you get settled." Mr. Weasley interjected. The boys grabbed their brownies and scurried up the stairs.  
  
"Like I was saying before my Mom interrupted us" Ron began, as the boys entered Ron's room. He didn't even have to continue, for Harry saw what Ron was trying to tell him about earlier. The room had been completely changed. The walls, that were once a pale yellow, were now painted dark blue. The orange carpet had been ripped out to expose a wood floor. The childish bunk bed had been replaced by a futon, which was placed right against the windows. The desk that was actually a 2-by-4 nailed to the wall was gone and in it's place stood an aquarium with tons of tine mystical creatures swimming around in it. "Wicked!" Harry grinned as he sat on Ron's futon.  
  
The Next two weeks flew by as Harry and Ron prepared for their return to school. They got their school supplies and robes. Harry knew something was up. The Weasleys didn't have the money to buy Ron all these new things and redo his room. But he was too polite to ask them about it. They had also been buying Ginny all sorts of new things as well. Harry was certain that if she'd asked for a unicorn, they'd give it to her. Soon it was the night before school, and Ron and Harry both had trouble falling asleep.  
  
"Harry, have you talked to Hermione lately?" Ron asked. His voice cracked on her name. Harry bit back a chuckle and said "Nope, not since I asked her about her schedule, come to think of it, she never did write back." "Yeah," Ron continued, "Do you think she stays in contact with Victor?" Harry thought about this, "I doubt it Ron, remember she didn't really seem to want to talk to him at the end of the tournament last year." He said, trying to sound sure of himself. "Ok Har." Ron yawned and rolled over. Soon Harry heard him snoring lightly. Harry finally fell asleep about 3 hours before he was supposed to get up.  
  
"Wake up guys!" Ginny was yelling through the door, "We gotta go.we're gonna be late!" Harry groaned and rolled over to block out Ginny's shrill voice. "Ugh.does she ever stop?" Ron asked sleepily. "She's your sister.you should know!" Harry sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, then searched for his glasses. "On the stereo" Ron told him, stretching and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. "GET UP!!!!!" Ginny practically screamed. "Ginny!" Harry heard Mrs. Weasley yell from the bottom of the stairs. "We're up anyway," Ron yelled back at her. Harry had already begun to pack his trunk to go. Ron looked at his little clock and swore under his breath. Harry grinned as he tried to lock his trunk. Ron grabbed his wand off of a stack of parchment. "Relius Locto!" he commanded and immediately Harry's trunk was shut and locked. "Well that's great Ron!" Harry said sarcastically, "Now how will I open it?" "It's simple, just say it backwards!" Ron told him, oblivious to Harry's sarcasm. "Boy's! Let's go!" Mr. Weasley's voice floated in through the open window. Quickly the boys sent their belongings to the brand new Lexus sitting in the Weasley's driveway. Soon the group was on their way heading towards platform 9 ¾. 


	4. Chapter Four

A/N I don't own any of these characters. J.K. Rowling invented them.  
  
At The station, good-byes were said. Mrs. Weasley tried not to cry. "I do this every year!" she said weeping. People around them were staring and Ron was getting embarrassed, "yeah Mom, bye!" he said awkwardly as his mother wrapped her arms around him. Harry was next in line. "Be good Harry, keep Ronny in line okay?" she hugged him too. "Yes Ma'am," he grinned. "Now Ginny, stay out of trouble! And be nice to the boys this year!" Mrs. Weasley gave her a stern look. "Yes Mama!" Ginny smiled and hugged her mother extra had before disappearing into the brick pillar that separated Platform 9 ¾ from the rest of the station. "If you boys need anything just send me a letter!" Mr. Weasley put an arm around her waist and said goodbye to the boys. Soon Harry and Ron were boarding the train.  
  
After finally finding an empty seat, Ron and Harry threw their bags into the overhead compartment. After settling in, Ron drifted off to sleep, leaving Harry to think by himself the rest of the trip. ½ hour after the train started rolling, Draco Malfoy, another 5th year student at Hogwart's stalked into the little compartment that Ron and Harry were sitting in. "Hey Potter!" He sneered, "Catching up on your Beauty sleep? Lord knows you need it!" Harry immediately sat up; "Do you just come in here to smart off Malfoy? Because it's not working." He then nudged Ron with his elbow, "umf!" Ron stretched and opened his eyes; he jumped at the sight of Malfoy. "You'd like to think I cam in here to talk to you wouldn't you Potter?" Draco grinned. "Actually, I was wondering if either of you had seen Crabbe or Goyle," Malfoy looked bored, "do you just sleep in here?" He said, not allowing the boys to answer the previous question. "No we haven't seen your goon's and yes, we had trouble sleeping last night, so we plan to sleep most of the way there." Harry said. Malfoy smirked and left the small car.  
  
"Come to think of it Har," Ron said, "where's Hermione?" Harry thought back. They definitely hadn't seen her at the station, and usually she came looking for them. "I don't know Ron," Harry couldn't keep the worried tone out of his voice. Ron sighed and looked out the window. "She hasn't contacted me at all this summer, not even a letter or anything! Where is she? This is getting weird Harry, I'm worried, what if something happened to her?" Ron choked back tears. He had always been very melodramatic. Harry looked at him with worried eyes, "Don't think like that Ron! She's probably okay, I'm sure she's just in the back with Pansy or someone like that. Don't worry about her." Harry said this more for himself than Ron.  
  
Soon the train began to slow down. The boys, who had spent the rest of the ride in silence, stood up and stretched before grabbing their parcels. Everyone crowded the corridors and forced their way off the train. Once they were off, Harry and Ron immediately turned around to look for their friend. "Hermione!" Both of them began yelling. "What's the matter, Weasels? Can't find your lover, Miss hairball herself? Hey Crabbe! Weasels and the hair ball!" Draco Malfoy grinned and stalked off towards the old castle perched on the hill in front of them. "Ignore him Ron! He's just a jerk." Harry said, spinning on his heel and gathering his things up in his arms. "Harry!" Ron yelled, "We have to find her!" "Look Ron, it's starting to rain," Harry said, turning around to face him, " I'm sure she's inside. Don't worry about her, she's a big girl, she can handle herself!" Just as he turned back around to head up to his school, he caught a glimpse of a thin girl slide of the train and collapse on the pavement below. "Hermione!" the boys yelled in unison! 


	5. Chapter Five

A/N I don't own any of these characters. J.K. Rowling invented them.  
  
Ron reached her first. "Hermione?" he said tentatively as he knelt down. Harry came running up to them. He had dropped all his stuff. Thick drops of rain were now pelting the three people. Harry slipped his hands underneath Hermione's warm body and lifted her up. "She's trembling!" he told Ron. "Grab my stuff will you? I'll take her to the infirmary." Ron was too shaken up to argue with Harry, he gathered up both his and Harry's belongings before remembering Hermione's things. "Harry!" he yelled, "What about Hermione's luggage?" Harry didn't hear him; he was stumbling up the pathway leading to the crumbling door that concealed the rich entryway.  
  
He threw the door open just as a dark looking man ran past. "I'm so dead.!" the man cursed himself. "Hey!" Harry yelled, "I need help!" By now Hermione had begun to shake almost violently. Harry didn't know what to do.his mind was drawing a blank."Is anyone out there?" Harry screamed at the top of his lungs. He heard doors slam open and what sounded like a herd of elephants come running towards him. The first to reach him was Professor Dumbledor. He skidded to a top and reached up to cover his bald spot with the thick beret that had almost fallen off.  
  
"Harry! What's going on?" he said. Looking back and forth between Harry and the trembling girl in his arms. "I don't know! She fell off of the train, and when I picked her up she was shaking." Harry explained. Just then Ron, still looking dazed, stumbled in through the door, nearly collapsing on the floor, under the weight of his, Harry's and Hermione's things. Unfortunately, neither Harry nor Dumbledor noticed. Ron didn't really care though. He threw the stuff on the floor and rushed up to his best friend and favorite professor.  
  
"Is she okay?" He asked. Harry didn't miss the edge in his voice, nor did Dumbledor. "Now Mr. Weasley, we don't know who or what happened to this girl, so before you vow revenge, help us get to the bottom of this." Dumbledor placed his hand on Ron's shoulder and pointed them towards the nurse's station. "Help Harry take her up to the nurse, he's about to collapse!" It was true, Harry's knees were knocking together and his head was swimming. By no means was Hermione that large, but neither Harry nor Ron were strong enough to carry a soaked shaking girl up 16 flights of stairs. It took Dumbledor a couple of glances from boy to boy to girl, before he realized the obvious problem. "I'll help," The boys jumped at the low voice of their potions professor. Harry looked around the hall, students and professors surrounded him, and everyone was silent, except for Hermione who had begun to moan in her unconscious state.  
  
"She's not getting any better boys!" Snape snapped at them before swiftly taking Hermione from Harry's arms and hugging e to his chest. Ron was smoldering as Severus started up the stairs clutching his best friend.  
  
By the time they reached the infirmary both guys were out of breath. "Wow, we're out of shape!" Harry said quietly to Ron. "I recognize this curse." Severus was telling the nurse, Madame Pomfrey. The boys stopped talking and listened in on the conversation. "I taught it to the 7th years in my class last year." He went on. "But they graduated, and no one under the age of 18 is allowed to activate the curse, but that won't stop people from teaching it to their friends and brothers and sisters. Would it?" "No, I'm afraid not." Madame Pomfrey told him. "I've seen this before too, it's the Nisonette curse out of France, soon Miss Granger will begin spewing out all her secrets! And once she's done with that, she'll-" "Slip in and out of a coma, before waking up with most of her brain destroyed!" Professor Snape finished for her. "Stop talking about it and DO SOMETHING!" he roared. Harry flinched; he was used to Snape's yelling, but not when he yelled at other people in authority.  
  
"Let's get these boys something to return their strength to make it down those stairs." Madame Pomfrey said, obviously unfazed by Professor Snape's yelling. "Vera!" she called, "get something for Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley!" Then she set to work on healing Hermione. "Who's Vera?" Ron whispered to Harry, but the boys didn't need to wait to long to find out. A door opened and out stepped the most beautiful woman Harry had ever seen. Harry could tell by the way Ron was staring, the same went for him too. She had long reddish brown hair that curled out at the different layers her eyes were the clearest emerald green Harry had ever seen, and the uniform she woe did nothing to conceal her slender hips and full breasts. Harry looked her over and stopped at her long shapely legs peeking out from underneath the belt of the robe. She smiled and leaned over to give Harry and Ron a small pill. She gave both of the boys an eye full of her pale cleavage. "I don't think we've met!" Severus smiled and kissed her hand as soon as she stood back up. "Severus Snape" He grinned. "I'm Vera Amoren" She smiled back at him revealing the whitest smile Harry and Ron had ever seen. "Now boys," Vera said, "you've already missed most of the orientation, I'd get down there if I were you!" The boys smiled back and rushed down the stairs.  
  
As soon as they got to the bottom, Harry stopped "Who do you suppose would put a curse like that on Hermione?" He asked. Just then Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle walked by. "Hey Weasles! How's hair ball doing?" Draco grinned and Crabbe and Goyle snickered behind him. "What did you do!?!?!?!?" Ron growled before hurling himself at Draco. Both fell to the floor, but it was obviously a one sided fight. Draco was much stronger than Ron was and unfortunately Ron ended up pinned underneath Draco. "I didn't touch your girlfriend Weasles!" he spat. "Nor did I curse her, a curse like that is wasted on a MUDBLOOD! They're not worthy of something the prestigious!" Draco patted Ron's cheek and then stood up. Ron leapt up ready to resume fighting, but Harry stopped him. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle laughed as they stalked off back to the Slytherin Dorms. 


	6. Chapter Six

A/N I don't own any of these characters. J.K. Rowling invented them.  
  
  
  
The next morning the school was buzzing with tales of Hermione's curse. Hermione's friends sent her flowers and candies, along with cards and letters.  
  
The day had begun with an assembly in the school's theatre. Professor Dumbledor took control and soon was addressing the entire school on the effects of the curse and just how serious it was. "We will get to the bottom of this," he said. "We have methods of figuring out who was responsible for this, in fact we have already narrowed it down to 3 suspects." Dumbledor seemed to glare at the Slytherin section. Again Harry felt the cold creeping feeling shooting up his spine. Immediately he stood up and dismissed himself from large room.  
  
As soon as he got outside he collapsed to the ground. He began to shake and the pain was shooting like bolts of lightning all over his body. It was unbearable. Then the pain was gone again.  
  
He hadn't heard it while he was on the floor, but as soon as he stood up he realized someone had been screaming. He turned around and saw Hermione standing behind a suit of armor peaking out at him. Only it didn't look like Hermione. Her bushy eyebrows had been plucked and her frizzy hair was now smooth and hung loosely on her shoulders. Her face had been splashed with make-up. "Hermione!" his voice shook while he said her name.  
  
She slowly stepped out from behind the suit of armor. "Are-are you okay?" she asked timidly. "Yeah-yeah, I'm fine!" He grinned, forgetting all about the searing pain that had just enveloped his entire body. She stepped forward, "I'm Hermione!" she grinned holding out her hand "But I suppose you already knew that!" Harry was confused. Hesitantly he shook it, and said to her "Of course I knew that! Why wouldn't I?" Now Hermione was confused. "How do you know me? I've never see you before!" Harry shook his head, and looked at her, "It's me! Harry! You old codger!" he laughed. "Harry? I'm pretty sure I've never met you, I've never seen you before in my life!"  
  
Hermione had begun to back away; she was looking at him like he was insane. Every step forward Harry took, Hermione took a step back, and this went on until Hermione backed into the suit of armor and it clattered to the tiled floor. "Look," she said, "I don't know you, but you're really freaking me out!" She had ignored the screaming crash that the suit took, falling to the floor. Harry noticed she was very pale. So he began to back away as well. Just then the assembly let out.  
  
A herd of students came rushing out. "Out of my way Pot---while, whose this?" It was Draco; he gave Hermione a flirtatious wink. "I haven't seen you around here.you new?" He smiled and took her hand in his. Hermione grinned back at him as Harry tried to bite back a laugh, "Draco, that's Hermione!" he guffawed. Draco immediately dropped her hand as though it were on fire, and snarled, "I should have recognized you, mudblood! Your teeth are still more crooked than-than-than," he couldn't think of a word, as Hermione was about to burst into tears. "Harry immediately felt bad for blowing her cover, and ignored a perfect opportunity to ridicule Malfoy about his vocabulary. He reached out and put his hand on Hermione's shoulder, she shrugged it off and ran towards the Gryffindor towers. "Oh no, the princess doesn't want her lovers hands all over her?" Draco sneered; he spun on his heel and stalked off towards the Slytherin dungeons.  
  
Harry stood by himself in the great hall, very confused. "She's has some sort of amnesia." He thought to himself, "She doesn't know who I am!" still thinking, Harry wandered up the stairs and found himself standing before the portrait of the fat lady.  
  
She was giving him a very stern look. "Well?" she said, jarring him awake. "Uh, philanthrias" he said, still wondering about how he could convince Hermione they were friends. Just as the portrait swung open and Harry stepped in, Ron was running out, the two boys collided and fell to the floor.  
  
"Harry!" Ron exclaimed, "I was looking for you! We have to go back up to the infirmary, Hermione will be there and so will Malfoy and his goons, it's pretty important I guess, since the entire board of Hogwarts will be there too." The two boys stood up and brushed themselves off. Ron gave Harry a worried look, "I haven't even seen Hermione yet, I hope she's feeling better!" He raked a hand through his unruly hair, which he had decided to grow out, retiring the original bowl cut he had. Harry chuckled nervously, "Yeah," he said "I bet we won't even recognize her!" Ron gave him a puzzled look, and Harry scurried away towards the stairs leading up to Madame Pomfrey's little office. Ron followed him up the winding stairs that led to the infirmary.  
  
"Okay, now that the boys are here, we can begin!" A large man was speaking, he had white hair and a beard, and he was very fat. He reminded Harry of Father Christmas. "As you know, a very serious curse was used on Miss Granger. Through our methods of tracing the scar origins, we found it led to one of you three boys." He pointed at Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. All three attempted to look surprised. The man went on. "Now Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, you two were our first suspects because you were the first ones to her, but we no for sure that it wasn't you, without you boys, Miss Granger would have died. You will both be awarded a cash prize and 100 points each to your house." The man smiled at Harry and Ron as they gave each other a high five. "Now, onto more serious matters, you boys," he said nodding at Draco and his friends, "After much deliberation, we have decided that Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle will be removed from the Hogwarts institution. Mr. Malfoy, you will be moved into the Gryffindor house." The boys all tried to argue with him, including Harry; Ron was too busy staring at Hermione as if he had never seen her before. "That's it! We've made our decision! No changes will be made!" The man stood and closed his book with a thud; the other board members followed suit. "You are all dismissed!" Professor Dumbledor said, before following the other members out the door.  
  
Immediately everyone jumped out of their seats, except Draco and Ron, "That's not fair!" Crabbe complained. "Draco doesn't have to leave!" "Yeah! Why does Mr. Rich boy get to stay here!" Goyle joined in. "I think you just answered your own question stupid!" Hermione growled. "Hermione!" Harry said in surprise. "Look" she said, "I don't know any of you, I don't know why you'd curse me! But it's obvious the sulking rat boy over there has a lot of money, so his parents must support the school! You guys are just two lardies who are here because they think you're smart enough to use magic!" The three boys were stunned; this wasn't the Hermione they knew! Hermione was weak and ugly and she couldn't think of an insult if it would save her life! This girl was gorgeous, she was tough, and she looked as though she could kill them if she wanted to. "That's what I thought!" Hermione grinned. "Now this one who calls himself Harry seems to know me, and I think I trust him, so if you don't mind Harry and I will leave!" She linked arms with him and they stalked off down the stone stairway.  
  
Ron quivered in his red and gold chair, the two people had forgotten about him; they'd left him alone with the three worst guys in school! Just then, Vera stepped out from the small room she and Madame Pomfrey shared. The four boys stood up and watched her enter, she was beautiful, and she mesmerized the boys! She turned and gave them a puzzled look. "Do you boys need help?" she said. "No ma'am." Ron said quietly in a dreamy voice. "Well ok then, you can go now" she sounded kind of creeped out. The boys quickly left and scurried down the stairs. When they all reached the bottom, Dumbledor appeared. Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle, you have 3 days to get your stuff moved out of my school, Mr. Malfoy, you have to get your stuff moved into your new dorm in the next hour, chop-chop boys! Lets go!" Ron floated away back toward the Gryffindor towers, while Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle skulked away toward their own Slytherin dungeons. 


	7. Chapter Seven

*Obviously these aren't my charecters. I own the plot, that's it. Do I have to put this in the front of every Chapter? Would J.K. Rowling really accuse me of taking credit for HER work? I am doubting that. But it is HER work. I only take credit for the plot.  
  
It wasn't until Ron reached the room he and Harry shared before he realized just what Dumbledor had said. He threw himself down on the sprawling red and gold bed, reached for one of the pillows that matched the glitzy comforter, and played with one of the tassels. "Harry," he said, "Do you realize Draco will be sharing a dormitory with us?" Harry, who had been sitting on the other bed looking over his notes from his new Apothecary class, rolled over and shrugged. "I guess there's nothing we can do about it. It's weird that he put him in Gryffindor, I guess after Slytherin, Ravenclaw would have suited him better. But Dumbledor knows what he's doing, and I'm sure Professor McGonagall had to agree as well." Harry went back to studying his notes. "That's another thing Har, no one's seen McGonagall anywhere!" Ron couldn't hide the worry in his voice. "It's like she's disappeared!" Anywhere else, this claim would have sounded unbelievable, but they were at Hogwarts, where statues could move, portraits could talk, and mirrors could show you anything you wanted.  
  
Harry looked up at Ron, "look Ron, normally I'd be scared too, but after last year, I just want a normal year! I don't want to use the invisibility cloak to sneak around, I don't want to fight dragons, and I don't want to be known as 'the boy who lived!' I just want to go back to normal, I want this year to be normal!" He stood up and stretched, "Now, I'm going to take a break and go down into the great room, would you like to come? Maybe we could play Chess or something." Not waiting for a reply Harry turned and headed down the stairs.  
  
"Harry! Wait up!" Ron yelled, catching up to him. The two boys went rushing down the stairs and nearly ran into Draco, who was followed by his stuff, all neatly stacked and floating in mid air as he stopped. "Going to play dolls, ladies?" he sneered. Ignoring the comment Harry looked down at him, "What room are you in Malfoy?" he crossed his fingers saying to himself "not 412, not 412, not 412" Draco glared at him, "I'm in 416! Not like it's any matter to you!" Both Harry and Ron breathed a sigh of relief and continued down the stairs. Ron stopped and chuckled to himself. "That's Neville's room!" Harry laughed. Right on cue Neville came trudging up the steps. "Why so glum, longbottem?" Ron bit back his own laughter. "You'll never guess who they have me sharing a room with now!" he groaned. "Who?" Harry said, fighting a smile. "Draco Malfoy!" Neville had begun to whine. "No!" both the boys said in unison, "Not Malfoy!" Ron laughed, "while, good luck with that!" He patted him on the back and strode down the steps.  
  
Finally they reached the Great Room, it looked deserted, and there was only one other person in the room. It was Parvati. She was reading a book. As soon as Ron stepped in she stood up and smiled, "Hey Ron!" She smoothed out her robe and then raked her hair back. "Hey Parvati, have you seen Hermione?" Ron asked. Parvati frowned, "No Ron, I haven't seen her." She pouted and sat back down on the large overstuffed chair.  
  
Ron and Harry settled at one of the chess tables and began to play; neither of them noticed Parvati's sighing and shrugging going on in the corner she was sitting in. Finally she stood up and stomped out of the room. In her hurry to leave she nearly knocked over her roommate, Hermione. "Whoa, sorry there!" Hermione said, she was still very unsure of herself. "You loyal slaves await! PRINCESS!" Parvati said sarcastically. Not catching on to it, Hermione eagerly rushed into the room. "Slaves?" she thought. "Oh it's just you guys." She said, looking very disappointed. "Well it's nice to see you too!" Harry said cheerfully, ignoring the sour tone in her voice. "Hermione," Ron began, "you wouldn't mind going out to Diagon alley with me this weekend, would you?" Hermione gave him a pointed look, "Are you asking me? Or are you telling me?" She glared at him. Ron immediately backed off, "I was just wondering-" "Look, it's been a long day, I have been beating my brains out trying to learn names, and schedules. I think that girl just ran into is a roommate of mine, so look, I'm tired and I don't want to talk to some scratched up boy and some Squeaky rodent boy right now, okay? Forgive me if I sound mean, but this is not a good time!" Hermione spun on her heel and stalked up the large staircase that led to the girl's rooms. "Ooh, I'll kill Malfoy for what he did to her!" Ron growled. "Why? Because the queen wouldn't talk to the poor little pauper?" Draco's voice was cold and chilled as he came up behind them. Ron leapt out of his seat and whipped out his wand. "Let's go Malfoy! Right now! You and me!" Draco stood there looking shocked, and then he collapsed in a fit of laughing. "What are you going to do Weasels?" He wheezed, "Poke me to death?" He continued laughing as he headed for the portrait leading out of the dormitory. "Bosteres Quantatum!" Ron bellowed. Nothing happened, Draco was still laughing and now Harry had joined in too. Ron looked down; he was holding a mere quill. 


	8. Chapter Eight

*Obviously these aren't my characters. I own the plot that's it. Do I have to put this in the front of every Chapter? Would J.K. Rowling really accuse me of taking credit for HER work? I am doubting that. But it is HER work. I only take credit for the plot.  
  
Thanks for reviewing those of you who did! (  
  
  
  
Cheeks flaming, Ron jammed the quill back into his robe. He was too furious to do anything but stalk out of the room. Harry tried as hard as he could to stop laughing, but he couldn't hold it back. Draco picked himself up, still laughing; he looked at Harry and grinned. "Potter, maybe you should teach Weasels some of your own grace!" Not missing the sarcastic tone in Draco's voice Harry said the only thing he could think of "Oh, stuff it Malfoy!" this only caused Malfoy to laugh harder as he strolled out of the room.  
  
Harry ran up the stairs and came across Neville sitting on the narrow staircase. He was crying. Immediately Harry felt bad for him. He sat down in the small space left on the step next to Neville. "Is it Draco?" Harry asked. Neville only nodded. "What'd he do?" A sob jumped out of Neville's throat, and his shoulders began to shake as he cried harder. Harry patted him on the back, feeling very awkward. Neville's head shot up and he looked Harry in the eyes, his own were now bloodshot, and his face was red and blotchy. He made a motion around his throat and then motioned around his mouth, and then shook his head. It took him a few tries before Harry caught on. "He took your voice?" Harry frowned. Neville nodded, ashamed, and began to cry again. "Laryn Vistoro!" Harry pointed his wand at Neville as he said the words. Who's throat was beginning to glow.  
  
"Thanks Har! You're a friend!" Neville grinned. He scampered up the stairs but stumbled on the top one and slid down a little bit. Causing his robe to fly up and his Knickers to slide down, exposing his butt crack. He turned around as he hitched up his underwear again, cheeks aflame, "my p- pants are being washed" his voice shook and he continued running up the stairs.  
  
Harry held back his laughter until he returned to his and Ron's room. Once he was safely inside, he collapsed to the floor in a fit of laughter. "R- Ron!" he gasped. Ron just stared at Harry, trying not to smile, because he wanted to stay mad. Unfortunately it didn't work. Ron begun laughing too. Harry told him the story, but he was hardly able to go on, because all that laughing gave him the hiccups. "And then (hic) he tried to (hic) tell me that his (hic) pants were (hic) being washed! (hic). Ron began to laugh harder and so did Harry. Someone pounding on the wall interrupted them.  
  
"Shut up!" a muffled voice came through, "Can't a couple get some privacy? You're wrecking the mood!" It took the guys a while to recognize the voice. It was a new student named Sean. He was an exchange student from Ireland and his accent was very thick. Girls seemed to love it, but the guys found it annoying and often ridiculed him about it. "Sean! What poor disillusioned girl do you have in there tonight?" Ron yelled back. "It's none of your business!" came the reply. "But she's far above you two anyway! So I doubt you know her!" Harry laughed to himself, "You mean you've got Madame Pomfrey in there?" He yelled. "You'd like to believe that wouldn't you! It's Ron's mother!" Ron's face changed quickly from amusement to anger. Before they could do anything, they heard Sean yell "No baby, don't go, they're just little boys!" followed by a door slamming. Ron pounded on the wall. "Come over here, Biggerstaff! Come over here and say something about my Mother!" "Ron!" Harry scolded, "Keep your voice down, I bet the whole dorm can here you!" Ron's face turned even redder. He realized he'd been screaming. "Calm down Weasley, I'll bet your Mother wouldn't even know how to-" Before he could finish, Ron had already rushed out of the room and begun beating on Sean's door. Harry followed him out and grabbed Ron's arm before he could pound a hole in the wall.  
  
"Ron, do you want one of the prefects to come down here?" He said, trying to calm Ron down. Ron turned around, his eyes flaming,  
  
"Harry! No one talks about a Weasley like that! NO ONE!" Before he could start pounding, Sean threw open the door. "Boys" he said politely, and pushed his way past them. Ron's eyes were still burning with anger while he watched Sean walk away. "Ignore him Ron" Harry smiled, "He doesn't know your Mom." The two boys returned to their room and retired for the night. But just as Harry was sliding into his bed, he heard a loud crash and what sounded like thousands of people running through the hall. He bolted up and ran to the door. Peeking through the small hole in his door, he was shocked at what he saw. 


	9. Chapter Nine

*Obviously these aren't my characters. I own the plot that's it. Do I have to put this in the front of every Chapter? Would J.K. Rowling really accuse me of taking credit for HER work? I am doubting that. But it is HER work. I only take credit for the plot.  
  
Thanks for reviewing those of you who did! (  
  
Outside Harry's room, there was a stampede of all sorts of magical creatures, from little Skrewts, up to Gryffins, and everything in between. He heard screams and door slamming open and closed over the sound of the animals. He slank back and then realizing what was happening, he whirled around and rushed to Ron's bed, "Ron! Wake up!" he cried, shaking him, Ron groaned and rolled over, "Ron!" he yelled again, wondering how Ron could possibly sleep through this. Harry knew without a doubtwho was responsible for this stampede. Finally Ron sat up and rubbed his eyes, "What's-" He began to say, but he didn't need to finish his question, for he heard the pounding outside too. He got up and ran past Harry, to the door. "What's going on!?" he cried. Harry, shook his head ad gathered his thoughts. He grabbed his wand and scurried to the door.  
  
Throwing it open, he yelled the first thing that came to his mind. "Relius Locto!" the locking spell went straight throught the animals, and hit the door opposite Ron and Harry's. "You going to lock them up, Potter?" A slick voice yelled from down the hall, Harry could barely hear it over the stampede, and he barely noticed it as he figured out what this was. Harry tried another simple spell, and again, it went right thrrough the stampede. Ron was still cowering behind him, not watching. "Close the door Harry, one's going to get in! Close the door!" He screamed. Harry took a deep breath, ad in stead of closing the door, he took a step forward. "Harry!" Ron yelled. Nothing happened, the creatures ran right through him, He unlocked the door across the hall, and then did a little dance in the hall, as if to say "check me out!" Then, as fast as te creatures appeared, they disappeared. People came running out of rooms, some half dressed, other's half asleep. Draco was talking to Seann, and the two were laughing.  
  
"They deserve one another!" Ron sulked. Soon the girls arrived at the tob of the staircase, "Ah, now real fun has arrived!" Seann smiled. Harry turned around and saw all the worried looks the girls had, but soon they changed to looks of amusement. Cho was in the front. She began to laugh, and soon the rest of the girls joined in. Seann approached her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He said something, but Harry couldn't hear it. He was smoldering. His fist tightened around his wand. Ron followed his glare and was surprised to see sensitive Cho, laughing and smiling with Seann.  
  
Harry's fist shook as he raised his wand toward Seann, he and Cho were both oblivious to Harry. He took a deep breath and dropped his wand. He turned around and went into his and Ron's room. Ron picked up Harry's wand and followed him into the small room. Harry had thrown himself on his bed. "Come on now Harry!" Ron said "You know you can have any girl you want! Cho isn't even that good looking!" It was true, Harry knew it, Ron knew it, and it was the cause for most of his jealousy. "Is that supposed to be a form of consolation?" Harry raised his head to look Ron in the eye. Just then the dorr to their room flew open.  
  
"Potter! Weasles! Awwwe, we didn't wet ourselves, now did we?" It was Draco, his signature sneer reeked of self satisfaction. Through the door, the boys could see a feminine hand reach in and grab Draco's shoulder. "Hey a Draco" a familiar voice purred. "Maybe some time you could show me how to do that?" Draco grinned and turned round pulling the girl into the room. It was Hermione. 


	10. Chapter Ten

*Obviously these aren't my characters. I own the plot that's it. Do I have to put this in the front of every Chapter? Would J.K. Rowling really accuse me of taking credit for HER work? I am doubting that. But it is HER work. I only take credit for the plot.  
  
Now it was Ron's turn to be angry. He jumped out of the chair he had been sitting in. "What's the matter Weasles? You want to learn too?" Before Ron could do anything, Draco and Hermione left the room, laughing together. "Get used to it Ron" Harry said bitterly. "Get over yourself!" Ron shot back weakly. Harry gave him a sarcastic grin and left the room.  
  
He wandered downstairs and nearly tripped over a girl who was crying. Tempted to just breeze past her, Harry hesitated on the steps. Sensing his presence the girl turned around. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were flushed. "Are you okay?" Harry asked, taking a seat next to her. "I'm sorry" The girl said, wiping away the tears that were rolling down her face. "Don't be sorry" Harry smiled, "Just tell me what's wrong" He tried to sound reassuring. "I'm-it's nothing-I'm ok" She said, trying to keep the tremble out of her voice. "Would you like to go down into the Common room with me?" Harry asked her. The girl looked up at him and nodded, smiling she took his hand, and he pulled her up. "So what's your name?" he asked. "Stephanie" She said softly. "Well I'm Harry Potter." He replied.  
  
As they walked down the stairs in silence Harry looked her over. She had shoulder length blonde hair that curled out at the different layers. She had some freckles sprinkled across her nose and her Green eyes were bright from crying. She had a tiny scar on her eyebrow that disappeared when she relaxed her expression. He noticed that she was quite pretty, even though she was a little chubby. She didn't have a perfect body, but he found himself thinking that it was ok.  
  
They reached the Common Room and found a table in the middle. "So tell me about yourself Stephanie." Harry said, pulling out a seat for her. She smiled, her eyes were no longer red, but they were still bright. "Well, I'm from Limerick, over in Ireland. I transferred here from Shira, which is a performing arts school for wizards. We heard about Hogwarts from my Aunt Sharon whose son, Seann, goes here. I heard they had a really good drama program here, as well as music," She said. "So you act?" Harry asked, "Yeah, and I sing, I like singing more." She smiled. "So what about you Harry?" Stephanie grinned. 'Wow' Harry thought, 'someone who doesn't know me!' Immediately he began sharing his story with her. As he was talking, Harry noticed the admiring look on her face. "Wow" She breathed when he finished. "Your life is so much more exciting than mine!" Both were grinning.  
  
They continued talking well into the night. It was after midnight when it dawned on Harry just how late it was. "Man, it's late. We should get to bed! It was nice meeting you,,,,,Stephanie?" He realized he didn't know her last name. "It's Biggerstaff," She said. "Well it was nice meeting you Stephanie Biggerstaff." "You too, Harry Potter." It wasn't until he got to his room when he realized what her last name was. "Biggerstaff?" He said to himself, just before he opened the door to his room.  
  
  
  
**Kinda short (boo) but it gets the job done! (**  
  
Please Review it.  
  
Love Sandrine 


	11. Chapter Eleven

Ron was already asleep when Harry walked in. He silently changed into his pajamas, and slid into his bed. Not giving a second thought to Stephanie's last name.  
  
The next morning Harry woke up to the morning wake up bells ringing. Something new that the school had installed. He groaned and rolled over. Unfortunately the bells were programmed to ring until every last student was out of bed. He sat up and yawned. Ron looked over at him and laughed, obviously he had forgotten about last night's event. "Late night?" He smiled. Harry growled under his breath and stood up.  
  
He took his time changing into his robes and left for the Dining hall. It wasn't until he had taken his seat at the Gryffindor table, that the bells stopped tolling. He leaned his head against his hand and began to fall asleep at the table. He was aware of someone sitting down near him, but he didn't care, he was too tired. Ron sat down next to him and shook him awake. "Har! He said, "Wake up!" Harry opened his eyes and realized his face had almost fallen into the plate of steaming oatmeal in front of him. When he looked up he saw Stephanie's concerned green eyes staring into his.  
  
"Hey Stephanie" he breathed. Ron looked confused "Who is this" he said rudely. "Stephanie, this is Ron, Ron, this is Stephanie." Harry grinned. "So what's your first class?" he asked her. Unfortunately he had caught her just as she took a bite of the oatmeal. Ron, feeling a little left out, stood up and left. "Sorry about Ron, he's kinda annoying, but he's my best friend, so I let him stick around." Harry said, waiting for her to finish the stuff in her mouth. "That's ok," she said "my first class is "Geometric Perspectives" she said. "Ugh, math!" Harry groaned. "Whatever!" she laughed. "I bet you're good at everything!" Harry said nothing, and Stephanie immediately began to blush. There was an awkward silence as the two finished their meals.  
  
Still embarrassed, Stephanie trudged across the courtyard that led to her Geometry class. "Hey Stephanie!" A familiar voice yelled. Quickly she turned around as her cousin approached her. "Hey Seann!" she smiled. The two cousins used to be best friends when they were little, but through the years they had grown apart. "Where are you going?" He asked. She showed him her schedule and he smiled. "Well at least we have Madrigals together!" He said referring to their choir class. "I didn't know you sang!" She said tucking her schedule back into the pocket of her dark purple robe. Seann grinned, "Ladies like a guy who can sing!" She laughed at him "Well that's true!"  
  
All of the sudden a furry little creature came running up to her, it hesitated, looked back, and then continued on it's way. It was followed by a huge man. Stephanie hadn't seen him since the first night at orientation. He ground shook as he ran. She gave Seann a quizzical look. "Hagrid" he said, "He takes care of all the animals here at the school. I believe he teaches your 'Mystical and Magical Eco systems' class. He's okay, but he won't accept nonsense!" He warned. "Well here's your class." Seann gave her an encouraging look before he ran off to talk to a tall Oriental girl. She was very pretty, Stephanie noticed.  
  
She opened the heavy door and entered the surprisingly well lit classroom. It was probably the brightest room she'd been in at the school, because it didn't run on electricity. She noticed light fixtures glowing on the wall though. A little confused, she approached one, to see what made it glow. "You must be Miss Biggerstaff" a stern voice behind her said. Quickly Stephanie turned around. She saw 20 kids blinking up at her; some had begun to snicker. In the front of the class was a short, nervous looking man. "Please take your seat, and remember, tardiness is never accepted!" Blushing, Stephanie had to walk across the classroom to get to an empty seat. She sat next to a thin blonde girl. "Hi" the girl said. "My name's Kendra!" she sounded very cheerful. "Hi, I'm-" "Miss Biggerstaff! Please try not to interrupt my class!" the teacher said. Stephanie felt like crying, today was not her day! The teacher introduced himself as 'Professor Whitlatch' and he started the lesson. 


	12. Chapter Twelve

*Obviously these aren't my characters. I own the plot that's it. Do I have to put this in the front of every Chapter? Would J.K. Rowling really accuse me of taking credit for HER work? I am doubting that. But it is HER work. I only take credit for the plot.  
  
  
  
Okay people.here's a little re-cap of what's been happening: Social Services come to the Weasley house, just as Harry is about to use floo powder. The Agent asks him some questions then leaves, Unfortunately she returns and sees Harry disappear into the fire. Harry spends a few days with the Weasleys before going to school. Neither of them can find Hermione on the train.and they think nothing of it. When the reach the school, they discover that Hermione has been cursed, by none other than Draco and his friends. Crabbe and Goyle are expelled; Draco's put in Gryffindor. Seann is named after the actor from the movie, hey I can dream can't I? He is not "snogging" Mrs. Weasley, he was being sarcastic. Harry meets Stephanie, and they begin to become friends, until he screws it up. Professor Whitlatch is a man  
  
  
  
As soon as she got back into her dorm, Stephanie threw herself down on her bed. The only good part of the day had been the part between breakfast and math, when Seann was walking with her. She replayed the day over and over in her mind. Beginning to cry, she buried her face in her pillow. Stephanie never heard her room mate, Lydia, walk in. "Steph, are you okay?" Lydia asked her. Quickly she put her head up. This made two days in a row that she'd cried in front of a stranger. Lydia seemed nice, but the two girls didn't really know one another. "I'm fine," Stephanie said sitting up. She wiped her tears away, and smiled. "It's just one of those days." "Oh yeah," Lydia smiled, "I know how those go!" Stephanie looked around the room. "You've been decorating?" She said, changing the subject.  
  
It was obvious that the room had been changed. There was a poster on the back of their door. It was a picture of Seth Thompson, one of the greatest football (soccer) players to come out of Hogwarts. He had actually been the Charter member of the football team. He went on to become famous, even among the muggles who had thought he emerged from no where. On the desk there were candles varying in size and photographs of Lydia and some of her friends from her home in the United States. She had changed her bed from the standard box spring, to a futon, holding red and gold pillows. She'd hung a huge mirror over the sink in the corner. "Do you like it? I can take everything down if you want." Lydia said hesitantly. "No, it's fine.that's a hot poster of Seth, where'd you get it?" Stephanie said, reaching underneath her bed to pull out a container of some of her own personal effects. "I found it at a music store in Indiana, have you ever heard of 'suncoast'?" Lydia asked, figuring Stephanie hadn't. "Nope" Stephanie grinned. "But check this out!" She held up a poster of Colin Farrell, her favorite Irish actor. "Omigosh, he's so hot!" Lydia exclaimed.  
  
She finally got Stephanie to talk about her bad day, and gave her some advice. "Guys are stupid, Harry doesn't even know that he made you feel stupid, that was probably just his way of accepting your compliment! As for Whitlatch, He's new here, but don't worry, he'll settle in and go lax!" The two girls were so deep in conversation that they didn't even hear the door open.  
  
"Hey, are you guys coming?" Cho asked, peeking into their room. "To what? Is it time for dinner already?" Stephanie said, not missing the surprised expression on the other girl's face. "Yeah, c'mon!" she said. So the girls stood up and stretched, looked in the mirror and followed Cho out into the hallway.  
  
Unfortunately, Harry's day didn't go any better than Stephanie's, her roommate helped her take her mind off of the things that happened. Ron kept bringing Stephanie or Draco up, every chance he got. "So Harry, how long did it take for you to figure out Malfoy had switched your wand with Neville's?" Ron asked for the millionth time. He was referring to 4th period when Harry had "physical adaptations" with a squirrley looking teacher named professor Burwell.  
  
Draco had switched his wand so when Harry tried to levitate a vase of roses, he flew backwords and fell on a very fat girl named Amanda. He quickly apologized, but in his head he was thanking her for her extra cushioning. He had a repeat performance of this about 6 times, before Professor Burwell took his wand away from him and sent Amanda to Madame Pomfrey to take care of her bruises. "Obviously you're doing something wrong Harry!" The professor had said to him. He made Harry try some other simpler spells; finally he realized that it was the wand, and not Harry. Neville had spent the entire class period looking for his wand, so the professor finally out one and one together, and gave the wand to Neville. "Now Harry" the professor said, "How can you not know your own wand from someone else's? Unfortunately, Harry wasn't concentrating on his studies. His mind was on Stephanie. "I'm such an idiot!" He kept saying to himself throughout the day.  
  
Ron also continued to ask questions about Stephanie. Where she was from, what year she's in, does she have a friend. It was obvious that Hermione's new found popularity was ruining his chances with her. All Harry wanted to do was take Ron's owl, pig, and shove the hyper little bird down his throat. Unfortunately he was too nice, and too polite. Instead he answered Ron's questions sarcastically, hoping he'd get the point. Finally the dinner bell rung, and Harry was able to escape Ron for the next 45 minutes. Immediately he stood up and hurried out into the hall, trying to get a head start so he could meet up with Stephanie.  
  
Cho led the small processional of girls into the common room. Stephanie and Lydia were still talking about the vents of the day when Stephanie ran into the back of someone else. She looked up into the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. "Oh-I-I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going!" She smiled as she felt warmth rushing to her cheeks. "That's ok, I should have been watching too! I'm Tyler," the guy said, grinning at her. "I'm Stephanie." She said, checking him out. His blonde hair was gelled and spiked a little bit. He was wearing a dark green robe over khaki pants and she could tell he was built. His blue eyes seemed to hold you there, as if they were the only things supporting you.  
  
Harry stalked into the common room, hoping to see Stephanie. Unfortunately when he got there, all he saw was Stephanie talking to some blonde guy. When the guy turned around, Harry saw that it was Tyler Johnson. A very popular member of the football team.  
  
"Well Stephanie, can I escort you to dinner, to make up for that crash?" Tyler's half grin only made him more attractive. "I'd like that!" Stephanie grinned back. They linked arms and he escorted her out into the main hallway.  
  
Harry watched them leave, arm in arm. Jealousy welled up inside of him, and it was a far worse feeling than anything he'd ever experienced. Worse than re-growing all the bones in his arm, worse than the excruciating pain that riddled his body in his room at home. He didn't like this feeling, and he DIDN'T like the idea of Tyler and Stephanie being that close! 


	13. Chapter Thirteen

*Obviously these aren't my characters. I own the plot that's it. Do I have to put this in the front of every Chapter? Would J.K. Rowling really accuse me of taking credit for HER work? I am doubting that. But it is HER work. I only take credit for the plot.  
  
  
  
Wow! 8 reviews. ::smile:: Thanks Jelly Bean, Fanny Chan, Midnight Auror, and A Fan. It means a lot to me!  
  
"I figured out what I recognize you from!" Tyler said during dinner. "You're in Madrigals with me! Aren't you?" He smiled. Stephanie thought back. That was the class in which she'd been told to sing the school's fight song as a solo, a cappella. She didn't know the words or the tune. So she ended up sounding terrible as she tried to sing along with director. "Oh jeez, I'm so embarrassed, that was the worst I'd ever sung in my life." She said, blushing. "Well that's ok, they shouldn't have expected you to know the song well enough to sing it solo anyway.  
  
Meanwhile, Harry was sitting on the opposite side of the table, a dozen seats away, watching them talk. 'Look at him' Harry thought to himself, 'he's so fake'. He heard Stephanie laugh, as Tyler turned their goblets of water into a small fountain of wine. "Who's so fake?" Harry flinched as Ron yelled in his ear. He hadn't realized he'd been talking out loud, nor did he realize Ron had been talking to him. "Sorry" Ron said, "But how many times do I have to repeat myself?" Harry looked at his friend, "That stupid Tyler Johnson, look at him over there!" Harry said sullenly. Stephanie laughed again. "Hey, isn't that your new girlfriend?" Ron asked. "Harry glared at him, but before he could say anything, Professor McGonagall stood up to make an announcement.  
  
"As most of you know, we have decided to open up the position of captain to fifth years for this year's Quidditch teams. We've never done this before, and it is predominantly taken over by seventh years, but we decided to make some changes. If you'd like to try out for this position, please contact Professor Withers, he is now in charge of all of the athletic programs taking place this year. Applications must be in by Friday, and you must have three years of experience on the team." She introduced Professor Withers again, and he stood up to talk. But Harry stopped paying attention. He had totally forgotten about the Quidditch team. "It's going to be tough competition" Harry told Ron. "Whatever Harry, you know you have it in the bag! Besides maybe your friend over there will forget about Tyler Johnson, and go for a captain instead of a center!" Harry smiled to himself and returned his gaze to Stephanie and Tyler. They were still smiling while they listened to Professor Withers delivering a speech.  
  
After the meal, Harry headed back to his room alone. When he reached the portrait of the fat lady that led into the Gryffindor common room, he felt someone behind him. He turned around. It was Draco. "Wow Potter!" He sneered, "You walk pretty fast! I would have thought that fat girlfriend of yours would have gotten you into the habit of walking slower!" Harry glared back at him, "She's not my girlfriend, and she's NOT fat!" Draco began to laugh. "Calypso!" He yelled, waking the fat lady. She glared at him before swinging open for the boys to enter. Harry's jaw dropped to the floor as he entered the room. Stephanie, Tyler, Seann, and Cho were all snuggled up against one another in front of the fire.  
  
"Oh Hey Harry!" Cho grinned, "come sit with us!" Harry smiled weakly "I uh have to go to my room, I have a ton of homework." He said walking toward the stairs. "No way Potter! We have 4 classes together. We're doing nothing in them!" Seann said, stopping him. "Well," Harry continued, "It's in my Psychology class" He referred to his Muggles vs. Magic class, in which they sstudied how the different people chaged and what they thought. It was his favorite class. "I'll sit with you!" Draco said.  
  
Harry never thought he'd hear Draco sound so pathetic, that he had to invite himself into something, Deciding they were done with him, Harry turned and headed up the stairs. All he heard was laughter and Draco clomping up the stairs, behind him, obviously embarrassed. He was walking extremely fast. Well at least they don't want just anyone. Harry smiled to himself, as Draco threw open the door to his room and slammed it shut behind him. 


	14. Chapter Fourteen

*Obviously these aren't my characters. I own the plot that's it. Do I have to put this in the front of every Chapter? Would J.K. Rowling really accuse me of taking credit for HER work? I am doubting that. But it is HER work. I only take credit for the plot.  
  
Wow! Thanks guys! Eleven reviews! LOL.even though one was made by me.whatever though!  
  
The Next Morning Harry made plans to go talk to Professor Withers about being team captain for Gryffindor's quidditch team. On the way to breakfast Harry knew he'd pass Professor Withers' office, he'd just stop in then. He was surprised to see the already long line forming in front of his door. Harry stepped in line behind Seann.  
  
"What do you need to see Withers for Potter?" Seann said, turning around to face him. "I want to be captain." Harry said confidently. Seann laughed. "You? You'd be the shortest one on the team!" Harry's face reddened. "I'm taller than the first, second, and third years!" He said. Seann laughed again. The line had begun to move, so he turned around again. Harry stood in silence for the next 15 minutes in line. He was surprised to see Ron join the line in back. 'What's he doing'? Harry thought to himself.  
  
Harry finally got in to talk to Professor Withers. "Oh yes, Harry Potter! The boy who lived!" Withers said. Harry tried not to roll his eyes. "Yes sir, that's me." He said politely. Professor Withers shook his hand and sat down behind the ragged desk. His office walls were covered with Pictures of past Football, Quidditch, and other various teams. "So what can I do for you?" Professor Withers asked. "I'd like to apply for the position of Quidditch captain. For Gryffindor." Harry said. "Hmm, we have quite a list for that postion, but here's an application. Tryouts will be next Monday, I'm sure you'll do fine!" He smiled at Harry. Harry thanked him for the application and his time. And left the tiny office.  
  
He saw Ron standing in line with a goofy grin on his face. "Hey Ron, you okay?" Harry asked, unable to keep the annoyance out of his voice. Ron started, and then focused on Harry. "Ron, you can't be captain, you've never played Quidditch!" Harry said. "Har, I'm not trying out for captain, I want to do something else!" It was Ron's turn to sound annoyed. Harry gave him an odd look, and then turned and headed toward the Great hall.  
  
For the first time, he realized he was all alone. Hermione didn't know him, Ron didn't want to talk to him, and Stephanie was probably with Tyler. How could it be, that he, the most popular boy in school, had no one to sit with at Breakfast? 'That's shallow' he thought to himself, "Harry!" Someone yelled. At first he didn't recognize the voice, but when he turned around, he saw Ginny Weasley. She had always had a crush on Harry, and he knew it. For once he was grateful to see her. There was an empty seat across from her, and he eagerly sat down. "Hey Ginny, how's it going?" He smiled. "It's going good" She smiled. 'wow, for someone who wants me, Ginny sure is calm' Harry thought. He spent the rest of breakfast listening to Ginny complain about Professor Snape and how much she hates his class.  
  
'Well that was a big waste of time!' Harry said to himself, as he walked down the corridor that led to the Gryffindor house. 'But at least I had someone to sit with!' "Potter! Talking to yourself? Or all your imaginary fans that follow you around?" It was Malfoy.  
  
"Shut it Malfoy!" Harry said.  
  
"You're friends got kicked out! Didn't you notice that you have no friends now?"  
  
"You're one to talk!" Draco hissed. "What happened to Weasles, and that chubby girl?"  
  
"Ron's talking to Professor Withers and Stephanie is with Tyler Johnson." Harry said, humiliated.  
  
Draco gave him a sneer and headed up to the room he shared with Neville. Harry Trudged up the stairs, and threw himself down on his bed. 'OH WAIT!' he realized. 'I HAVE TRANFIGURATION IN 3 MINUTES!' He grabbed his bag and ran out the door. The bell rung just as Harry reached the hall that his classroom was in.  
  
The new teacher was the same nervous looking man that Harry had seen on his first night back. He had his back turned and was talking very fast about how dangerous transfiguration is.  
  
Trying to remain unnoticed, Harry slid into a seat in the back. Just as he sat down, the chair disappeared! He fell flat on his rear end, and all his books came tumbling down off of the desk he had set them on. Hearing the crash, Professor Weeber dropped his chalk and turned around. "Ah, Mr. Potter, I am so glad you joined us!" He gushed. Deciding he sounded genuine, Harry smiled back and stood up. "Well," He said. "I'm glad to be here." Professor Weeber beamed, and jumped back into the discussion. Harry look around for Ron, and saw him glaring at him from across the room. "What?" Harry mouthed. Ron continued to glare. Harry just shrugged and moved to a different seat. 


	15. Chapter Fifteen

After Class, Harry immediately ran to Ron's desk. "What's wrong?" He asked, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. Ron shrugged, "It's nothing," he said. "Ron, you're my friend, what's going on?"  
  
"Look Harry, you wouldn't understand, you succeed at everything!"  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"You've never had anyone say 'no' to you!"  
  
"What about-"  
  
"Look Harry, I went to go see Professor Withers about playing football, I've been working on it all summer, and he basically told me I wouldn't be on the team." Ron said, sounding dejected. Harry couldn't help his look of shock. 'Ron? Football?' He thought. Harry shook his head to clear his thoughts. Never in a million years had Ron seemed to have the least bit of interest in Football! He noticed Ron was staring at him. "Well, w-what did Withers say?" Harry said weakly. "I don't think you're the right kind of guy for Junior Varsity football." Ron quoted, allowing a nasty tone to creep into his voice. Harry felt bad for his friend. "Ron, I-" "Don't!" Ron said, "You can't possible know how I'm feeling!" He rushed away. Once again, Harry was all alone.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
It seemed that slowly, but surely, Hermione was regaining her memory. She had been undergoing constant Therapy, and been under tons of medications from Madam Pomfrey. She wandered down the stairs from the infirmary, and realized just how familiar these halls were. She didn't need to count portraits of dead wizards to find the fat lady in pink. She could just walk without thinking and find herself in front of it. She was also thinking back to the green eyed boy she'd had so many encounters with the first few days back. Now that she'd been back at Hogwarts for a couple weeks, she realized just how famous he was. The name "Potter" kept popping into her head, along with "Weasley" and "Krum".  
  
"This is getting weird!" She said to herself before saying the password to the portrait. She seemed to have interrupted the fat women from something important, because she gave Hermione the dirtiest look. Hermione apologized, and just before she stepped into the Gryffindor common room, she stopped. "I'm sorry," she said again, "but I've been trying to regain my memory, and I feel rude barking words at you. What's your name?" She asked, wincing in fear of a rude remark. When she opened her eyes, the Portrait woman was smiling at her, with tears in her eyes. "You know?" The women said, "You're the first person to actually ask me about myself" she was positively beaming, and Hermione realized that this woman must have been gorgeous when she was alive, although she was quite stout. Trying not to sound impatient, Hermione gently asked the woman's name again. "It's Penelope." She said, her voice thick with tears. "Thanks." Hermione said, and scurried into the common room.  
  
She almost ran into a familiar looking boy. It was the boy that she fell on top of, the night of the "stampede." His icy blue eyes had a cruel glint to them. "So frizz, what's going on?" He said, sounding amused. "She glared back at him. "Frizz huh? At least it doesn't look like an owl crapped all over my hair!" She retorted. He reached up and smoothed back his hair. "Yeah, it's pretty popular with the ladies," He said sounding very cocky, but Hermione couldn't help but laugh. She caught herself, and covered it with a cough. 'I have an intense hate for this boy' she thought, 'and I don't know why'. "So I'm gonna go now." The silvery boy said to her, he sounded impatient, like she was wasting his time! She shrugged him off, and headed for her room.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * *  
  
When Harry got back to the Gryffindor portrait, he noticed that the fat woman had tearstains on her face. "Are you okay?" He asked hesitantly. She smiled at him. "Bless you Potter," she sniffed "You and all your friends." Then, without him even asking, she swung open. He walked in just as Hermione was coming down the stairs. Harry paused for a second, then headed toward the staircase that led to the guy's dorms. "H-harry" it was so quiet he barely heard it, but he did hear it all the same. He stopped. "Harry" She said it again. Quickly Harry turned around. "Hermione! You remembered!" He exclaimed. He rushed over to her, and grabbed her in a hug. He picked her up and spun her around, just as Ron entered the room. 


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Ron slowly walked into the room. "What's going on?" He asked hesitantly. Harry turned and smiled. "Hermione remembered my name!" He said. Ron's face lit up. "Hermione! That's great!" He rushed over to them. Harry stepped back so the two could hug. Over his shoulder, Hermione mouthed the word "who?" "Ron" Harry mouthed back. "R-Ron" Hermione said weakly. "Harry smiled and gave her a thumbs up. Ron was delighted. "Hermione, I'm so proud of you! You remember us!" Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled. "Yeah.." She trailed off. "Hey! Let's go to Hosmeade this weekend! To celebrate!" Harry said gently. Hermione looked confused. "You'll remember when we get there!" Ron said. "First, let's go to dinner." The group all headed down to the great room.  
  
People were surprised to see them all together. Many stepped out of their way, as Ron, Harry, and Hermione went to sit at the Gryffindor table. As it turned out Stephanie and Tyler ended up sitting down right in front of them. At first it was awkward, watching the two of them flirt. But soon conversation relaxed as Ron and Harry retold Hermione of the events that took place the year before. That night, all three of them went to bed refreshed and tired.  
  
Unfortunately Ron couldn't fall asleep. He tossed and turned all night, and Harry's snoring wasn't helping. Ron kept thinking about the football team. He had tryouts tomorrow, and he knew he needed his sleep, but it wasn't happening. He was tempted to get up and grab his wand, and put a spell on himself, but then he remembered what his professor of AP Spells and Curses said to him. "Sleeping spell may seem like the answer, but you won't wake up refreshed, it will still feel like you've been awake all night!"  
  
Instead, Ron got up, grabbed his football, and Harry's invisibility cloak. He changed out of his robes into some basketball shorts and a T-shirt. He slipped out of the room, and sneaked past the sleeping portrait. Soon he found himself out on the football field. "Luminos" he whispered, and his wand lit up. He practiced bouncing the black and white ball from one knee to the other, then from his ankles. He dribbled the ball up and down the field, practiced kicking into the corners of the goals, and ran all sorts of drills. Finally, he found himself getting tired, so he packed up and headed toward the looming castle. When he got back to Gryffindor, he showered quickly, and ran to his room. He slid into bed, and soon fell asleep.  
  
"DONG DONG DONG DONG." The school's morning bells were ringing. Ron groaned and sat up. He rubbed his head, and smoothed his red hair forward. Harry was already gone. Ron hurriedly changed into his school robes and ran downstairs to breakfast. He found Harry and Hermione already at a table. He ate a quick breakfast, and ran out to the football field.  
  
He was surprised to see that no one was there yet. He threw off his cloak and began stretching. Soon, others began to arrive. He recognized Tyler Johnson, Erich Vargaz, and Mark Rubick. They were all Gryffindors. A few others looked familiar as well. After a while, Ron realized that he could beat a lot of these guys. It only made him work harder.  
  
The guys all had to run a bunch of laps, and then do many of the drills Ron practiced the night before. He breezed through them, as if to say "In your face Withers!" Finally they were allowed to take a water break. One of the larger boys, Ron later found out it was Chad Weitz from Hufflepuff, Threw up all over the bench that many of the boys were sitting on. They all jumped up. "Dude that's sick!" Peter Bombarra cried. Peter was an exchange student from America and was very good at soccer. A lot of girls liked him, and he was usually very friendly, but the tension was getting to everyone.  
  
Finally, when try-outs were over, a majority of the guys went up to the infirmary to see Madam Pomfrey. "Ron!" It was the head coach, Professor Formsma. He had most of his students call him Chris, except the ones he didn't like had to call him by his respected name. Ron hesitantly walked over to him. "I'm impressed!" the professor mused. "Well thanks sir." Ron smiled, and hitched his bag up on his shoulder. "I think you have talent, I wouldn't be surprised if you made Varsity." Ron's eyes widened, "Are you serious?" he blurted out. "Well yeah, with a hustle like yours and the concentration you have, you'll be a shoo-in!" Ron laughed aloud, he couldn't stop himself. "Thanks Professor Formsma! You won't regret this!" He cried. "No problem Weasley, and Ron? Call me Chris!" Professor Formsma smiled. 


	17. Chapter Seventeen

This is probably my favorite chapter.I don't condone what happens in it, but I think it's powerful.  
  
Check out my disclaimer on past entries!  
  
  
  
The next morning Ron woke before the bells started ringing. Today they were going to announce the football teams! He already knew he was on it, and he had an idea who else had made it. He changed into his favorite Navy Blue Robe. His Mum had bought him a new wardrobe this past summer after his dad was promoted. He looked at Harry who was still sleeping, and quietly slipped out of the room.  
  
He remained quiet in the staircase. As he neared the bottom he heard talking. One person, it was a guy, sounded angry, he had a girl pushed up against the wall. Ron couldn't see who they were, but he could hear everything.  
  
"What are you thinking! You made a fool of me in front of all my friends!" The guy hissed. "I told you! Never talk about that! To ANYONE!" He was quiet, but Ron could hear the anger in his voice. "I'm sorry-it just slipped out! It'll never happen again!" the girl's voice sounded scared. Ron recognized it, but he couldn't remember who's it was. The guy continued berating her. "I thought I could trust you!" he growled. "Tyler I'm-" "I can't even look at you!" The guy said, slamming his fist into the wall behind her. "BANG" Ron was so startled he almost fell, but he grabbed the banister and stayed in the shadows. The guy looked around and his eyes seemed to fall on Ron. It was Tyler Johnson! 'So that must be Harry's friend Stephanie!' Ron concluded to himself. He closed his eyes out of fear that Tyler could see him. When he opened them Tyler was storming out through the portrait and Stephanie crumpled to the floor.  
  
Ron ran over and knelt down in front of her. "Are you ok?" He asked. Cursing himself for being such a coward and not stepping in when Tyler was there. Stephanie had buried her face in her arms that were resting on her knees. She was sobbing and seemed to ignore Ron, but she finally looked up. "He's not cruel!" she said weakly. "He's just nervous about football, it's my fault!" She began to cry again. Ron put his hand on her shoulder and she looked up again. "Did he hit you?" he asked, trying not to sound as furious as he was. "He's not cruel!" she said again. "DID HE HIT YOU?" Ron said with more force. Stephanie looked into his eyes and then buried her face in her arms again. Both were now shaking. Ron with anger, Stephanie was still sobbing. He awkwardly put his arms around her just as Parvati came downstairs. "Ron!" She cried. "Parvati!" He said, standing up "What's going-" "Just. . . sit with her!" Ron exclaimed, he ran out of the Commons room to go find Tyler. He didn't know what he'd do when he found him, but that didn't matter at this point.  
  
By the time Ron reached the Great Hall, the bells had begun tolling. It was impossible to find Tyler now, there were to many people. Harry came in about Five minutes after Ron gave up looking. "Harry!" Ron cried, but just then Stephanie came up behind Harry and motioned for him to keep quiet. Ron caught on and tried to cover himself.  
  
"What?" Harry said, trying to catch on to Ron's ridiculous story about the Breakfast meat. "Never mind" Ron said sitting down. Harry sat across from him. "So what happened in your dream?" Ron had begun to explain when Withers stood up in front.  
  
"I have an announcement to make." He said. Immediately everyone quieted down. He named off the primary team, which was for the younger students, and then the Junior Varsity team, Finally he got to the Varsity Team. "And the varsity team will be Jeffery Abdalla, Eric Blystone, Steven Burkett, Jacob Commings. . . " Ron tuned him out until he got to the latter part of the alphabet. "Jake Westervelt and Ron Weasly" Ron stood up with the rest of the team and looked around. Finally he found Tyler, who was also standing. Ron began to tremble again. He knew he couldn't do anything yet. There were too many people around him. Finally everyone sat down. Parvati, who had moved to sit in the empty seat next Ron, and rested a possessive hand on his arm. "I talked to Stephanie," she said. But before she could continue, Dumbledor stood up to make an additional announcement.  
  
"As many of you remember, last year we had a Yule ball. I'd like to announce that we will also be having a Hallows eve ball as well as the Yule ball this year." Many people began to cheer. The second and third years looked disappointed, but the first years, unaware of the age limit, began talking excitedly. Dumbledor held up his hands for silence, he informed them of the rules, and the first years soon looked like the other students who were too young.  
  
After breakfast, Ron and Parvati went off alone to talk. Harry watched them and as soon as he turned around, Stephanie was standing in front of him, she had her back turned, but he knew it was her. She smelled good. Harry was tempted to leave and not say anything, but his curiosity got the best of him. "Ahem" he said. She turned around and squealed "Harry!"  
  
She was about to throw her arms around her neck, but then she remembered the angry bruise on her arm. She covered it too late. Harry looked shocked; he couldn't miss the purple mark on her arm. "What's that from?" He asked. Sounding concerned. "Oh" she laughed nervously. "We were practicing. . . Stage combat. . .in drama, it got a little out of control." She knew she didn't sound very convincing, but Harry seemed to buy it. He smiled, "You should go get that taken care of by Madame Pomfrey." He grinned. Stephanie smiled back, she wanted to hug him, and she knew Harry felt the same way. She took a step closer, So did he. He put his hands on her hips, but all the sudden; Tyler came up behind them and pulled on her arm, ripping them apart. Immediately she felt tears stinging at her eyes. "Ow! Tyler! You're hurting me!" He ignored her, and dragged her into an empty classroom. 


	18. Chapter Eighteen

When Ron got back to his dorm room, Harry was sitting on his bed, flipping through a magazine. "Guess what!" Ron said excitedly. "I'm on varsity!" Harry looked up "Good job Ron" he said calmly. "Good job?!?" Ron exclaimed, "I've never even played on a real team!" He was practically trembling.  
  
"Look Ron, I'm really excited for you, believe me, but I'm really nervous about some stuff right now"  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Ron I-"  
  
"You know what Harry? It's always about you, isn't it?"  
  
"Ron!"  
  
"ISN'T IT?"  
  
Ron turned and stormed out of the room. He didn't know what was going on with Harry, but he was sick of being second to him. So Ron went off to find someone who would care. In the common room Parvati was sitting at one of the small tables surrounded by books. It was obvious she was studying, but Ron had no idea what it could be. They had just about every class together. Except when he had Potions II she had Madrigals. He sat across from her, when she looked up she did a double take. "H-hey Ron!" She grinned. "Hey Parvati! Guess what?" He smiled back. "I'm on varsity football!" "Oh Ron! That's awesome!" She jumped up and reached over the table to give him a hug. 'Hmm,' Ron though 'She smells good! Like roses and watermelon mixed. The hug lasted longer than necessary, and when it was over, Ron was a little disappointed. "So Parvati, I was thinking, maybe you'd like to go to Diagon with me this weekend?" He flinched, remembering what happened last time he said those words. "Sure Ron! I'd love to!" Ron opened his eyes and smiled. "It's a date then?" he asked. "It's a date!" Parvati was beaming.  
  
Ron was still smiling when he went back to his room, he knew Harry was there, he knew Harry would be mad, he also knew he really didn't care. Ron was finally moving up on the ladder, and NOTHING could knock him down! Harry was already sleeping, so Ron quietly changed into his pajamas, and slid into bed.  
  
"Ron! Wake up! Ron! We're there!" Ron opened his eyes. "Wha-a?" He said, still groggy. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Get up" Ron glared at the person who was talking to him, it wasn't Harry. It was Seth Thompson. Now Ron was even more confused. Seth was one of the best football players in all of Great Britain; he chartered the Hogwarts team and had graduated with Percy. "Y-you're Seth Thompson!" He cried. "And you're Ron Weasly!" Seth shot back, grinning. "Are you ok?" He asked, sounding concerned. "Yeah, where are we?" Ron asked. He looked around and gathered that he was on a bus. All around him there were other guys packing up bags and talking some where doing simple stretches. "We're at the hotel, get your stuff together!" Seth said. He stood up and left Ron's seat to go to the front of the bus. He made an announcement about being quick, because they to be at the field in an hour. 'What Field?' Ron thought to himself. "Hey Weasly!" someone yelled. Ron turned around to see a blonde guy yelling to him. "We're room mates right? I have your cleats!" "Yeah.thanks" Ron said. Lots of guys were yelling back and forth now as the bus stopped in front of the biggest hotel he'd ever seen.  
  
Soon everyone was checked in and Ron followed the Blonde guy up to their room. He later found out it was Nick Scalabrino from the United States. They quickly unpacked and Ron found a schedule mixed in with all the other unfamiliar stuff in his bag. "Soccer World Cup" he read aloud. "I love how that sounds!" Nick grinned. Ron smiled back, and looked at himself in the mirror, he was wearing a pair of dark khaki shorts and a black polo shirt. He looked over and Nick was changing into soccer shorts and a jersey. So Ron followed suit. And soon he was ready to go. They boarded the bus again, and soon they were at the stadium. Ron stepped off the bus and his jaw dropped open. He had never seen this many people in his life. There were more people here than at the Quidditch world cup! He recognized the flags over the stadium as Chinese. "So.china huh?" He said to Nick, trying to sound casual. "Beijing, man!" Nick laughed, and followed the rest of the team to the locker room. Ron realized he was alone now, so he ran to catch up with the rest of the team.  
  
Ron played most of the game; it was the best he'd played in his entire life. The score remained close even up to the last part. It was tied 4-4 with 38 seconds to go, and Britain had the ball. Seth was dribbling it toward midfield. A Chinese player ran up and tried to steal the ball from Seth, but he passed it to Nick. 20 seconds. Nick dribbled up the field zig zagging back and forth between Beijing players. He was just about to pass it back to Seth when a Chinese player got it away. 15...14...Another British player regained the ball and passed it so Seth, who passed it to Nick. 8..7.. Nick passed it to Ron 4..3...Ron dribbled up to the net and kicked it as hard as he could. He stood anxiously as it seemed like time had slowed down. He watched the black and white ball sail past the goalie and hit the net. 1.. A buzzer sounded signaling the end of the game. "GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAL!" The announcer yelled. "Ron Ron Ron Ron Ron Ron" the crowd began to chant. "GOOOOOOAAAAL! Ron screamed, as the team lifted him up. "GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAL" He screamed again.  
  
The team began to shake and Ron felt like he was going to fall. The crowed was getting louder, but it sounded like one person. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he was looking into Harry's eyes. "Ron!" Harry laughed "You're going to wake up the whole dorm!" He was still laughing. Ron blinked and sat up. He was back in his old Griffindor room, and Harry was kneeling on the floor next to his bed. "Oh sorry Harry, I just h-h-h-a-a-a-a-d the best dream!" He yawned. Harry smiled. "Well keep it down and tell me about it later!" Harry turned and went back to bed. Ron smiled and rolled over, drifting off to sleep again. 


	19. Chapter Nineteen

Harry turned and left as soon as Tyler touched Stephanie. Hermione was the first person he saw after that. She was listening to Seamus. She was looking at him, but she didn't seem to be paying attention. Harry grinned and walked over to her. "Hey Seamus, I'm sorry, but I have to talk to Hermione" He said. Seamus frowned and said "Ok, I'll finish my story later Hermione! It's really funny!" "I'm sure it is Seamus! I can't wait!" Hermione said politely.  
  
"Thanks!" She grinned as soon as Seamus was out of hearing distance. Harry and Hermione began to talk about the upcoming trip to Hogsmeade. Hermione was very excited about it. She loved how it felt, to suddenly remember things after feeling as though she lived in a fog. "So Hermione, you know how Dumbledor was talking about the Hallows eve ball?" Harry asked slowly. "I know last year Ron and I totally screwed up, but I was hoping this year, you'd like to go with me" He hurried on. "What happened last year?" Hermione asked innocently. "Uh-well. . ." "I'm joking Harry! I'd love to go with you!" She smiled. Harry smiled, but he wasn't really all that excited.  
  
Ron and Parvati pretty much had the exact same conversation in the Common Room.  
  
Later that night, Parvati was changing into her pajamas when a thought struck her. "Since when does Ron not disgust me?" she asked herself. "Everything is so different now!"  
  
~*~  
  
Football practice was starting the next morning. Their first game was a couple weeks away. Ron had to get up early, because the Professor Formsma had scheduled an early practice. Ron groaned and rolled over. He looked at his watch on the table next to his bed and rubbed his eyes. He slowly got up and sat on the edge of his bed for a couple seconds, then he changed and dragged himself downstairs. He heard someone run up the girl's staircase, but ignored it as he slumped over to the portrait hole. When he got outside he saw that he, Tyler, and Peter were the first ones there. Peter was sitting on bench wrapped up in a blanket drinkingf something steaming in his hands. Tyler was jogging in place and talking to himself. Ron stood there watching him until Tyler saw him. "Hey Weasley! Never knew you played football until the try-outs! Think we'll have a good team this year?" Ron didn't know what to say. He'd expected Tyler to be gruff, like the way he'd seen him in the common room the other morning. This morning he semed genuinely nice. "You okay Weasley?" Tyler asked. "Yeah" Ron said, "It's just so early, I'm not thinking yet" He laughed nervously. Tyler chuckled. "You'll get used to it! You wanna run some drills?" Ron didn't know why, he knew he should hate Tyler after what he'd seen, but he couldn't. He almost wondered if he misunderstood what had happened that day. 


	20. Chapter Twenty

Ron and Harry whipped around. There was Draco standing with two boys they'd never seen before. "So you got some replacements, huh Malfoy? Harry said coolly. One of the boys was small and thin. He had thin blonde hair, and his eyes were huge, with dARk circles underneath, like he hadn't slept in quite a while. He looked pretty weak. The other was tall and surly. He had very thick eyebrows that connected at the center of his forehead. The trio was very strange to see, especially after seeing Draco with Crabbe and Goyle. Who, even though they themselves were large, looked semi- normal.  
  
"Oh no," Draco said simply, "I could never replace Crabbe and Goyle, they were the perfect goons!" He laughed, and after hearing this, the two boys behind him laughed weakly too. "No, no, no, this is Hyde," he said pointing to the big one with a uni-brow "and steve." Draco explained motioning to the smaller one. "And believe me Potter, we can still make your life a living HELL!" Malfoy grinned and strutted passed him. Immediately Ron took out his wand. "HESIDECTO!" He yelled as a purple stream floated out of his wand. Suddenly Draco was in the nude. Nude as in, he had no clothes. Before Ron knew what was happening, he and Harry were pulled into a nearby classroom. Ron was relieved to see Professor Formsma. "Oh it's you!" he breathed. Formsma didn't look too happy. "Ron, is that how we go about things?" He said gruffly. "Ron blinked in surprise. "What?" He said shakily. "Look Ron, you're going to get into ton's of trouble if you keep casting spells like that!" the Professor warned. "It was a good one though, right?" Ron laughed.  
  
Formsma smiled. "Yeah, just don't let me see you do that again!"  
  
"Damn" Ron said.  
  
"What?" Harry asked, trying to put himself in the conversation.  
  
"We didn't even get to see his reaction!"  
  
"Did you really want to see it?"  
  
"No, I guess not!"  
  
The two guys laughed, and Formsma dismissed them.  
  
Unfortunately, Draco was still out in the hall waiting for them. His clothes returned, but his cheeks were blazing. "You know what I think you need Weasles?" Draco said gruffly. "I think it's about time we had another duel!" Hyde and Steve laughed. Harry and Ron stared at him in surprise. "Do you really want to duel against the guy who beat out 'he who must not be named'?" Ron asked. "Did I say 'potter' Weasels?" Draco demanded as he took his wand out of his pocket. Ron started to back up. "I don't want to fight you Malfoy!" He said slowly. Draco sneered, "Why not Weasles?" His hand shook a little as he lifted his wand toward Ron. Ron said the first thing that came to mind "RELIUS LOCTO!" He cried. Draco began to laugh, but stopped when he saw that the spell Ron had cast, caused the tip of his wand to fall off. Draco looked shocked.  
  
He picked up the tiny piece that was glowing. "Put 'em back together!" Draco glowered. Hyde and Steve stepped forward. Ron took a step backwards. "Maybe you didn't hear him!" Hyde said. Even his voice souned dumb. Steve said something, but neither Ron nor Harry could understand it, it sounded like another language. They later found out Steve was fluent in Latin, and that his parents raised him that way. 


	21. Chapter Twentyone

*Wow, it's been a while, huh?* lol  
  
Ron looked around, they were the only ones in the dark hallway, at least for what he could see. Draco stepped in closer. "What's the matter Weasels?" He glowered. "Scared? I bet you're just like your father huh? No guts! Too scared to do anything but count his 'plugs'!" Something in Ron snapped. Draco had done nothing but insult his family since school began. He dropped his wand, and before he could control his fist, CRACK! He nailed Draco in the jaw, knocking him to the ground with one swift punch. Draco laid there, stunned.  
  
Ron trembled, he looked around again; the group was still alone. Hyde and Steve just stared at him. Then he heard a sniff. Draco was crying! Harry held back his laughter. Ron smirked. Draco slowly pulled himself up. His face was now bright red, and tears and snot were running down his lips. "You're nothing but a retarded spaz Weasles!" He sputtered. Hyde offered Draco a yellow Handkerchief that was clearly used. Draco batted his arm away. "Hyde, you're a bigger puss then he is! Way to stand up for me, Crabbe and Goyle would have helped." Draco had begun to lead his fan club of 2 away from Harry and Ron. Harry looked at Ron with new found admiration.  
  
"Where'd that come from?" He asked.  
  
Ron looked at Harry and smiled, "Be aggressive!" He quoted Coach Formsma. "You've changed a lot too Harry," Ron said thoughtfully.  
  
"Like how?"  
  
"I dunno, but for the first time since we've met, I feel like we're equals. I like this feeling, I mean we could always talk before, but now, it's like I'm talking to a brother I've never had."  
  
"Ron!" Harry smiled. "You have 5 brothers!"  
  
"I know, but you're the brother I've always wanted."  
  
There was an awkward silence. Harry cleared his throat, hoping to break the tension. Ron chuckled. They finally reached the Gryffindor common room, and said the password.  
  
"Harkaned" Harry said, still feeling tense.  
  
The portrait swung opened and the two boys entered. The only one in the room was Neville, everyone else had gone to bed.  
  
"Hey Nev!" Ron said relived to have another person around. "Draco hasn't come through here yet, has he?"  
  
Neville jumped. He had been pouring over a rather thick book. "I haven't seen him, have you guys seen my rememberall though? I know I'm forgetting something, but I can't remember!" He began to blush.  
  
"No, but we'll try to remember to look for it!" Harry said, laughing at his own weak joke. Ron raised an eyebrow and headed off to bed.  
  
Reaching their room, it dawned on him, why Harry seemed so different. It wasn't so much that Harry had changed, but Ron had. Ron began to change out of his cloak and into his pajamas. He looked in the mirror on the back of his door. He was no longer skinny and awkward, his soccer training had paid off. Although he wasn't "ripped" yet, he was getting some definite muscles. He flexed his abs, hoping to achieve a six pack in the near future. "Then I might get a good date for the ball!" He thought to himself. His face was no longer young looking, he had developed a jaw line, and his red hair was no longer cut in the usual bowl cut. Fred had introduced him to hair gel. So Ron had started spiking his hair a little bit. But it was more than physical appearance. Last year, Ron would have thought Harry's memory joke was hilarious. Ron stared at his reflection.  
  
"Who am I becoming?" He said aloud, as if expecting his reflection to answer back. He turned down the lamp glowing next to the door, and climbed into bed. He never heard Harry come in. 


	22. Chapter Twentytwo

Early the next morning, Harry stretched and pulled himself out of bed. He didn't want to wake Ron. He had no idea what time it was, but it couldn't be later than 4 AM. He wasn't tired, even though he came in very late. He had gone to see Hermione, she had always known how to talk to him and calm him down. He was having the same mental battle as Ron. It seemed that the 3 of them had changed a lot over the summer. Hermione wasn't too pleased with him waking her up, but she masked it and helped him out. Harry had noticed how different Ron was at the beginning of the school year. He was no longer the follower he had been.  
  
Tip toe-ing down the stairs, Harry heard a crash and a girl whimper. He raced down to the bottom but stopped short in the shadows. There was a girl and a guy fighting. Well it looked more like the guy fighting. The girl turned and scrambled under a nearby table.  
  
"Stop it Tyler!" the familiar voice cried.  
  
"What makes you think you can tell me stop? You're just my little dog! It's about time I punished you! Without me you're just a fat girl with no friends!" The guy growled at her.  
  
"That's not true!" She cried back.  
  
Harry finally made the connection just as Stephanie turned and saw him. She stopped. She stared.  
  
Tyler followed her gaze, "Jesus. . ." He groaned. "Go back to bed Potter! This is a private conversation!"  
  
Harry took a step forward. "Playing pirates?" Harry sneered. "Can I play too?" He asked sarcastically. Tyler just glared at him. "What's the matter Tyler? The football player and soon to be quidditch captain, sounds fair, right?"  
  
"Harry no!" Stephanie, still kneeling on the floor, held up a hand to prevent him from saying anything else. Ignoring her, Harry continued toward Tyler. Tyler took a step backwards.  
  
"Hey, you weren't scared when you kicked your girlfriend around, what's the matter now." Although Tyler was a good 4 inches taller then Harry, Harry wasn't scared. He had learned early on that crazy beats size any day.  
  
Tyler found his anger and stepped forward again. He raised a fist and took a wild swing. Harry ducked and grabbed his wand from the pocket in his cloak. Instead of using it on Tyler, he threw it to Stephanie for safe keeping. If Tyler wanted a real fight, he'd get one. Harry ran behind Tyler and put him in a choke hold. He learned it from all the American Wrestling shows that Dudley liked to watch. Tyler was so surprised that he didn't even try to fight back.  
  
"Stephanie, Go!" Harry cried. He didn't want her to see him like this. "Go!" He repeated himself. Stephanie scrambled up and raced to the stairs; she looked back once, and then ran to the top.  
  
Harry held Tyler here for a minute before he realized that Tyler stopped trying to fight him off. He released him and Tyler dropped to his knees. "Potter" he gasped, "I'll get you" with his final warning, he crawled to the stairs and sat on them. Not quite ready to go up yet, not quite able to fight or talk with Harry any more.  
  
Even though it was too early for anyone to be out in the halls, Harry slipped through the portrait, and slid down on the floor next to her. He had awoken her. She searched up and down the hall before her eyes finally fell on Harry.  
  
"Well Mr. Potter." She said gruffly. She was never pleased when a student awakened or, or interrupted her, or annoyed her. "You'd better make this worth my while!" Harry jumped. He looked up at the angry woman in the portrait.  
  
"Look, I'm sorry, but no matter what I say to you, you'll be bored." Harry said sadly. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. Things like that just don't happen at Hogwarts.  
  
"You might as well tell me, maybe you'll bore me to sleep" She said sarcastically.  
  
Ignoring her tone, Harry started to describe what he had just seen.  
  
"And he was just kicking her around, calling her a dog, and I couldn't stand it, something snapped in me." He looked up at the portrait expecting her to be snoring. Instead she had covered her mouth with a chubby hand. "Are you yawning?" He asked slowly.  
  
"Of course not!" She said with a waver in her voice. "You've got to tell someone Mr. Potter!"  
  
Harry looked at her in surprise. "If I tell anyone, he'll come after me! He already made that clear!" The woman rolled her eyes.  
  
"Not if he's suspended!" She said angrily.  
  
"You don't understand, Dumbledor will just look the other way. The Johnson's have given this school so much! They're responsible for-"  
  
"Their son beating up on sweet innocent little girls!"  
  
"You don't understand, I can't tell anyone!"  
  
"And I thought you were one of the more noble students at this school Mr. Potter, now I see you're a nobody that only does things to benefit yourself! Back in my day that was called selfish." She held up a hand to show Harry that this conversation was over. Without him asking, she swung open and he climbed through the hole, into the Common room. Tyler had left; perhaps he had gone to bed. The portraits words were ringing in Harry's ears. He had never been called selfish before. Of all the insults people had thrown at him, Draco, Snape, Voldemort, Dudley, none of them compared to what she had said. 


	23. Chapter Twentythree

Hermione woke up just before they alarm bells started tolling. She thought back to her strange conversation with Harry the previous night. He seemed genuinely worried.  
  
"Hermione, everyone is so different, it's like we all left last year as children, and now we're-"  
  
"Even more childish." She had cut him off.  
  
She was still missing things from her memory, and this was very frustrating. She sat in her bed, hugging her knees to her chest. A photo of her, Ron and Harry, that had been taken by Mr. Weasly with his new "muggle camera" sat on her nightstand. Picking it up, she noticed for the first time just how young they looked. Ron with his bowl cut, Harry with his acne, and her with huge teeth. They looked so immature and so innocent. They all seemed to be laughing about something, but Hermione couldn't remember what. Looking in the background of the photo, she could see trees and a small shed, as though they were in someone's backyard.  
  
She was startled by a knock on her door. "C-come in!" She called.  
  
In walked Ron's younger sister. "Hermione! Can't you hear the bells? They don't stop until everyone is out of bed!" Hermione shrugged. Ginny rolled her eyes. "I came to see if you wanted to walk down with me, I need some help with Arithmancy, and you're the smartest person I know!"  
  
Hermione stopped, she stared at Ginny. "Are you the one person who is more forgetful than me?" She asked.  
  
"I think that's Neville." Ginny said, pretending to sound thoughtful. "But, what are you talking about?"  
  
It was Hermione's turn to roll her eyes. "Ginny, I can barely remember anything from last year, much less some math lesson!" Ginny froze, and immediately began to blush.  
  
"I'm sorry Hermione! I totally forgot!" She said hurriedly.  
  
Hermione smiled, "don't worry about it; you're not the only one who does it!" She said finally getting off of her bed. Within the next three seconds the bells stopped. She quickly changed out of her pajamas into her school robes. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail, something she couldn't do the year before, and applied some mascara. Then she and Ginny headed down to breakfast. Neither of them noticed the sobbing figure in the commons room. 


	24. Chapter Twentyfour

Stephanie arrived late at breakfast. Everyone had already been served. She had stopped in Madam Pomfrey's office. All she found was her assistant, Vera.  
  
"What happened?!" Vera had demanded.  
  
Stephanie tried to think up something smart to say. She had already used "falling down the stairs" on Pomfrey, as well as "stage combat" and "class mistakes." Vera must have seen the file. Stephanie thought hard.  
  
"I.fell out of bed.and there was this.stack of." She trailed off, judging by the look on Vera's face, she definitely wasn't buying the story.  
  
"Look sweetie, I think I know what's going on here."  
  
"Y-you do?"  
  
"Look honey," Vera hopped up on a nearby bed; she crossed her legs and examined a nail. "Believe me, I've known a lot of men in my day, and I've been through the exact same thing. Tell me who the jack-ass is."  
  
Stephanie shook her head. She could no longer feel the searing pain in her side, she had forgotten about her swollen eye, and no longer noticed the blood drying to her forehead. Vera stared into her eyes, "Look, I know its tough kid, but the only way to save yourself is to tell someone else, or it will just keep going on!"  
  
Stephanie trembled and took a deep shaky breath, "actually, a friend of mine saw it happening, so he knows." Vera raised an eyebrow. Just then, Madame Pomfrey bustled in. She dropped an armful of bandages and rushed over to Stephanie.  
  
"What happened!?" She cried. Vera continued looking at her nails.  
  
"Some jack-ass" she said, sounding bored.  
  
"Vera! What did I tell you about your language in front of the students? Not the place!" The nurse scolded. Without another word, she stitched up Stephanie's forehead, placed a spell on her eye to bring the swelling down, gave her a pill for her side, and sent her off to breakfast.  
  
Now she looked around the large room looking for an empty seat. She saw one across from Harry and at another table there was the empty seat that Tyler always saved for her. Casting a disappointed glance at Harry's group of friends, laughing and joking around, she headed over to Tyler who was surrounded by other football players. After seeing Harry, Tyler's table seemed to be sitting in the shadows.  
  
She held her head high, and with a confident smile, she walked over to Tyler's table. Upon sitting down, Tyler feigned a worried look and asked what happened. Smiling, despite the intense anger she felt toward Tyler, she tried her previously mentioned story again, with a few variations. "I fell out of bed this morning, and I landed on a glass vase, you know, the one my mom sent up with me?"  
  
Tyler smiled sympathetically and clicked his tongue. "What am I going to do with my little klutz?" He laughed. Stephanie forced a laugh, and took a bite of her eggs.  
  
Later, after breakfast, Tyler's friend Peter came up to her. "Hey Steph," He said slowly. "Look," He pulled her aside where Tyler couldn't see her, "You don't gotta cover for him, we all know what he does."  
  
"Peter," Stephanie played innocent. "What are you talking about?" Peter reached into his robe and pulled out his wand and a small orb. He tapped the glass ball and said some incantation. It began to glow, and there was the scene this morning, that had gone on between Tyler, Harry, and her. Stephanie began to tremble, and before she could stop them, tears washed out over her cheeks. "Oh Peter," she said, weeping. "He wrapped his arms around he and she began to cry harder, her mascara dripping offer her cheeks onto his light blue robe. Just then Tyler appeared. He smiled at Peter and clamped a hand around Stephanie's elbow.  
  
"What's going on? Peter, I think I can handle this," He pushed Peter aside and gripped Stephanie's arms harder than necessary. Peter took a few steps back, but remained at a close distance. Trying to get rid of him, Tyler practically dragged Stephanie out of the dining hall into the entryway, where he immediately began to chew her out. Just as Ron and Parvati walked in. 


	25. Chapter Twentyfive

Trying to not be seen, Ron and Parvati scuttled over to the nearest corner in the room. It was perfectly blocked by a statue of an old witch. Ron pulled Parvati close to him so that it was easier to hide.  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Tyler yelled. "You're making a fool of me! Traipsing around with losers like Peter? How does that make me look? Rejected for a prig like him?"  
  
"Look Tyler! I don't have to take this from you! Nothing happened between me and Peter, he was comforting me! Unlike you! I'm through with this!"  
  
She was stopped short when Peter slapped her across the face. "Like hell you are!"  
  
Parvati gasped and started toward them but was stopped by Ron. Ron kept one arm around Parvati and reached into his pocket with his free hand to grab his wand. He took careful aim but just as he was about to mutter an incantation, Parvati's wand fell to the floor. Tyler stopped and looked around. Ron and Parvati froze. It seemed like an eternity as Tyler looked around the room. It seemed that his eyes met Ron's more than once. Finally he gave up and went back to berating Stephanie.  
  
"You know Stephanie? At first I actually cared about you, but now I see you as a slut who no one could care about!" He reeled back as though he was going to strike her again. Stephanie threw up her arm to shield herself, but he, in turn, grabbed her arm and threw her hard to the floor. He then brushed himself off, and stalked out of the classroom. Parvati again tried to run toward Stephanie but Run held her tight until the door closed.  
  
When he finally released Parvati, she rushed to Stephanie. "Are you alright?" She asked softly. Stephanie tried to nod her head, hut turned out shaking it, no. She knew that if she opened her mouth she would lose the fight with the tears she had been holding back. "Ron! We've got to get her to Madam Pomfrey!" Parvati cried.  
  
"We've got to go to Dumbledore first!" Ron said.  
  
"No. . ." Stephanie moaned weakly. "He'd kill me!" Stephanie said, finally releasing the tears.  
  
Ron looked at Stephanie, who was bleeding and had a large bruise on her cheek. He then looked at Parvati who was kneeling next to her. She looked him in the eye and shook her head. Ron sighed, and left the room. He decided to go up and get Madam Pomfrey but just as he reached the stairs he saw Tyler coming down. He was whistling and looked as though nothing had happened. The only proof that Tyler had been there were his red knuckles. Ron glared at him. Tyler, totally oblivious to him, smiled at Ron and kept walking. Ron had never felt such an intense hatred for anyone as he did that moment. 


End file.
